Rejected

I heard about the IDP Education Fair happening in Bangalore. So, I and our business development intern decided to attend the fair. Our aim was to network with the officials of the foreign Universities, establish a relationship with them and explore possible partnerships. We had mailed a couple of them but either got no response or got dismissed with fancy grammar (you know those brilliant lines to say NO)

Upendra (our business development intern) and I got to Vivanta by Taj (MG Road) this afternoon and after meeting about four of the Universities, something unusual happened.

A man in black suit approached us and eventually walked us out of the event venue. His reason was that we were not supposed to have commercial discussions with the representatives.

Needless to say, it was an embarrassing moment. Not something I haven’t experienced before, but I felt sorry for Upendra.

I felt so bad that he had to face such embarrassment. As founders, we have faced several rejections even in more harsh manners since we started, but allowing any of the people helping us experience such is something I detest. He doesn’t deserve that. That was the only thing that crossed my mind we walked out of the venue. I felt like saving the day somehow, but you realize that you can’t fight every battle.

I will not forget today in a long while.

I pray Upendra forgives me for this. Much more importantly, I pray he truly learns (as many have said) from what happened and become stronger.